A fascinating picture of the American frontier emerges from Twain's fictionalized recollections of his experiences prospecting for gold, speculating in timber, and writing for a succession of small Western newspapers during the 1860s.

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Review:

There is no nicer surprise for a reader than to discover that an acknowledged classic really does deliver the goods. Mark Twain's Roughing It is just such a book. The adventure tale is a delight from start to finish and is just as engrossing today as it was 125 years ago when it first appeared.

Roughing It tells the true-ish escapades of Twain in the American West. Although he clearly "speaks with forked tongue," Roughing It is informative as well as humorous. From stagecoach travel to the etiquette of prospecting, the modern reader gains considerable insight into that much-fictionalized time and place. Do you know about sagebrush, for example?

Sage-brush is very fair fuel, but as a vegetable it is a distinguished failure. Nothing can abide the taste of it but the jackass and his illegitimate child, the mule. But their testimony to its nutritiousness is worth nothing, for they will eat pine knots, or anthracite coal, or brass filings, or lead pipe, or old bottles, or anything that comes handy, and then go off looking as grateful as if they had had oysters for dinner.

Roughing It is informally structured around the narrator's attempts to strike it rich. He meets a motley, colorful crew in the process; many mishaps occur, and it shouldn't surprise you that Twain does not emerge a man of means. But he withstands it all in such a relentless good humor that his misfortune inspires laughter. Roughing It is wonderful entertainment and reminds you how funny the world can be--even its grimmer districts--when you're traveling with the right writer.
From the Publisher:

Book Description Penguin Books Ltd, United Kingdom, 2010. Paperback. Book Condition: New. 178 x 107 mm. Language: English . Brand New Book. A fascinating picture of the American frontier emerges from Twain s fictionalized recollections of his experiences prospecting for gold, speculating in timber, and writing for a succession of small Western newspapers during the 1860s. Bookseller Inventory # APG9780140390100

Book Description Penguin Books Ltd, United Kingdom, 2010. Paperback. Book Condition: New. 178 x 107 mm. Language: English . Brand New Book. A fascinating picture of the American frontier emerges from Twain s fictionalized recollections of his experiences prospecting for gold, speculating in timber, and writing for a succession of small Western newspapers during the 1860s. Bookseller Inventory # APG9780140390100

Book Description Penguin Classics, 1981. Book Condition: New. Brand New, Unread Copy in Perfect Condition. A+ Customer Service! Summary: Features recollections of the author's experiences prospecting for gold, speculating in timber, and writing for a succession of small Western newspapers during the 1860s. Bookseller Inventory # ABE_book_new_0140390103

Book Description 1981. Paperback. Book Condition: New. 1st. 131mm x 29mm x 197mm. Paperback. A fascinating picture of the American frontier emerges from Twain's fictionalized recollections of his experiences prospecting for gold, speculating in timber, and writing for a succession.Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. 592 pages. 0.408. Bookseller Inventory # 9780140390100

Book Description Paperback. Book Condition: New. Not Signed; A fascinating picture of the American frontier emerges from Twain's fictionalized recollections of his experiences prospecting for gold, speculating in timber, and writing for a succession of small Western newspapers during the 1860s. book. Bookseller Inventory # ria9780140390100_rkm